Latch for vehicle doors

ABSTRACT

A free-wheeling, dual preset vehicle door latch with a force transmitting pin mounted for controlled floating within slots formed in a side-by-side contactor and locking lever. The latch is of the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;impulse&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; type in that the second preset operation may be performed completely while the door is open so that the door may be closed and locked simply by being swung shut in a normal fashion. The latch is disposed within the door in a socalled &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;upside-down&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; manner in that the contactor and locking lever are disposed below the latching element to facilitate connecting the contactor and locking lever to the inside and outside release members and the inside and outside locking members of the door.

United States Patent Marx Atwood Vacuum Machine Company, Rockford, Ill.

Dec. 24, 1969 [73] Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

US. Cl....,..292/2l6, 292/DlG. 26, 292/DIG. 27 Int. Cl. ..E05c 3/26Field of Search ..292/216, 280, 198, 336.3

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1964 Di Salvo et al ..292/DIG.27 7/1964 Di Salvo ..292/2l6 X 1 Oct. 10, 1972 Primary ExaminerRichardE. Moore Att0mey--Wolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann, Ltd.

[ ABSTRACT A free-wheeling, dual preset vehicle door latch with a forcetransmitting pin mounted for controlled floating within slots formed ina side-by-side contactor and locking lever. The latch is of the impulse"type in that the second preset operation may be performed completelywhile the door is open so that the door may be closed and locked simplyby being swung shut in a normal fashion. The latch is disposed withinthe door in a so-called upside-down" manner in that the contactor andlocking lever are disposed below the latching element to facilitateconnecting the contactor and locking lever to the inside and outsiderelease members and the inside and outside locking members of the door.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a latchfor use on the door of an automotive vehicle and, more particularly, theinvention constitutes an improvement over the comparatively simple andcompact latch disclosed in my copending US. application Ser. No. 850,524filed Aug. 15, 1969, and now US. Pat. No. 3,614,146. The latch disclosedin said application is of the dual preset type in that the latchautomatically is placed in an unlocked condition when the door is swungclosed unless two separate manual operations are performed prior toclosing of the door to preset the latch for keyless locking. The latchdisclosed in my copending application also is of the so-called impulsetype. That is to say, the latch may be preset for keyless locking byfirst shifting an inside operated member to a locked position while thedoor is open and then by only momentarily actuating or impulsing anoutside operated member. Thereafter, the door may be swung closed in anormal manner and without need of holding the outside member in anoperated position during such swinging to effect locking of the door.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary aim of the present invention is toprovide a new and improved free wheeling, dual preset latch of theimpulse type which possesses the basic simplicity and compactness of byabovementioned latch but which is constructed in such a manner that,during closing of the door after the latch has been impulsed, the insideoperated member remains at all times in a stationary position withoutshifting from the locked to the unlocked position and back as in thecase of my previous latch. As a result, the motion of the insideoperated member conforms to that of most latches which are usedcommercially and, in addition, the parts of the latch are subjected toless wear than those of my previous latch and are less likely to jam orhang up on one another. I

The invention also resides in the provision of a latch of the above typehaving a force transmitting connector which floats in slots fonned inthe inside and outside operated members, the slots being uniquely shapedto avoid the need of physically blocking the connector with a separatepart when the latch is impulsed. Accordingly, the connector and slots ofthe present latch wear less, may be manufactured to wider tolerances,and malfunction less frequently than the similar elements of my previouslatch.

A further object of the invention is to position the inside and outsideoperated members of the latch in a novel manner and below the latchingelement of the latch to provide increased clearance facilitating theconnection of linkages between the inside and outside operated memberson the one hand and the inside locking and outside release members onthe other hand of a door in which the latch must be mounted in the upperportion of the door and closely adjacent the outside release member.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent fromthe following detailed description when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

2 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary verticalcross-section taken transversely through a door equipped with a new andimproved latch embodying the novel features of the present invention andshowing the latch in a locked and latched condition.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line4-4 of FIG. 3 and showing the latch in a locked and latched condition.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the latch in afreewheeling condition.

FIG. 6 is a view of parts illustrated in FIG. 4 but showing the latch inan unlocked condition.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the latch unlocked andbeing unlatched.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the latch in an unlockedand unlatched condition.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but showing the latch in a lockedcondition before irnpulsing.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 but showing the latch in anirnpulsed condition.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary side elevation of the latch taken substantiallyalong the line 11-11 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantiallyalong the line 12-12 of FIG. 13.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of parts of the latch and showing the partsin a locked condition in full and in an unlocked condition in phantom.

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13 but showing the position of theparts during irnpulsing in full and showing the parts in a lockedcondition in phantom.

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 13 but showing the position of theparts after irnpulsing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in thedrawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in alatch 20 particularly adapted for use with the door 21 of an automotivevehicle and including a pivoted latching element 23 (FIGS. 1 and 4)carried by the door and coacting with a cylindrical striker pin 24mounted on a post 25 (FIG. 3) of the vehicle frame to hold the door in atightly closed position. In this instance, the latching element is afork- Iike member formed with a recess 26 (FIG. 4) for receiving thestriker. As the door is swung closed, contact of an edge 27 of therecess with the striker rotates the latching element clockwise from anunlatched position shown in FIG. 7 to a secondary latched position (notshown) and then to a fully latched position shown in FIG. 4 to preventseparation of the latching element from the striker and thus hold thedoor closed.

Herein, the latching element 23 is journaled for rotation intermediatethe ends of a fixed horizontal pin 29 (FIG. 4) which is anchored at itsends to a pair of vertically extending metal base plates 31 and 32(FIGS. 1 and 3) spaced from and fastened to each other and housed withinthe door 21. The base plate 31 is attached to the end wall 33 of thedoor and is formed with an inner flange 35 (FIGS. 3 and 4) extendingbetween the two plates and along the inner side wall 36 of the door.Most of the parts of the latch are encased within the enclosure formedby the plates and the flange, and the entire latch is housed within thedoor such that the latch is concealed without any parts thereofprojecting beyond the end wall of the door. A recess 30 (FIG. 1 1)formed in the flange 35, a recess 40 (FIG. 1) formed in the base plate31 and a recess (not shown) aligned with the recess 40 and formed in thedoor end wall 33 expose the recess 26 of the latching element forlatching with the striker 24 when the door is swung to the closedposition.

Referring now to FIG. 4, it will be seen that an arcuate peripheral edgeof the latching element 23 consti'tutes a ratchet and is formed with apair of angularly spaced teeth 41 and 43 adapted to be engaged by ablocking-type pawl member 44. The pawl 44 is fulcrumed to pivot on afixed horizontal shaft 45 extending between the base plates 31 and 32and is formed with a projecting tooth 46 extending toward the latchingelement and engageable sequentially with the teeth 41 and 43 as thelatching element is rotated clockwise. The pawl is urged into engagementwith the ratchet by contractile spring 47 (FIG. 7) stretched between andanchored to the pawl and the latching element. When the pawl engages theratchet tooth 41, the latching element 23 is held in its secondary orsafety latched position (not shown) and, when the pawl engages the tooth43, the latching element is held in its fully latched position (FIG. 4).Counterclockwise tuming (FIG. 4) of the pawl 44 about the shaft 45releases the pawl tooth 46 from the latching element 23 and enables thelatter to turn counterclockwise from the latched position shown in FIG.4 to the unlatched position shown in FIG. 7 to release the striker 24and permit opening of the door 21. The contractile spring 47continuously urges the latching element toward the unlatched position sothat the latching element automatically turns to such position uponrelease of the pawl.

To release the pawl 44 from the latching element 23 to unlatch the door21, an actuator member or contactor lever 50 (FIGS. 4 and 13) is pivotedon the shaft 45 in side-by-side relation with the pawl and is adapted,when swung counterclockwise about the shaft from a normal position (FIG.4) to an operated position (FIG. 7), to cause shifting of the pawl awayfrom the latching element to release the latter for turning to itsunlatched position under the urging of the spring 47. Counterclockwiseswinging of the contactor 50 about the shaft 45 may be effected from theoutside of the vehicle by lifting up on a manually operable outsiderelease lever 51 (FIG. I) mounted on the outside of the door. Lifting ofthe release lever rocks a shaft 53 (FIGS. 1 and 2) in a clockwisedirection as viewed in FIG. 1 and, by means of a crank 54 fast on theshaft and a link 55 connected between the crank and the contactor 50,causes counterclockwise swinging of the contactor to trip the pawl 44and release the latching element 23. To return the contactor to itsnormal unoperated position, a torsion spring 56 (FIG. 4) surrounds theshaft 45 and is anchored at its ends to the flange 35 and to thecontactor to swing the latter clockwise when the outside release lever51 is manually released. Instead of being operated from the outside ofthe door by the lever 51, the contactor may be actuated by a push buttonor the like operably connected to the link 55.

The pawl 44 may be released from the latching element 23 from the insideof the vehicle by pushing downwardly on an inside remote release lever57 (FIG. 2) mounted on the inside of the door 21. The remote lever isconnected by a crank 59 and a link 60 to a lever 61 (FIGS. 2 and 11)which is pivoted on the flange 35. When the remote lever 57 is pivoteddownwardly, the lever 61 is swung clockwise (FIG. 11) to cause a lug 63on the lever to move beneath a finger 64 projecting from the inner endof the contactor 50, thus swinging the latter counterclockwise about theshaft 45.

Coupling of the contactor 50 to the pawl 44 to trip the latch inresponse to operation of the contactor is effected by a forcetransmitting connector 65 (FIGS. 4, l2 and 13) which moves with thecontactor and which normally (FIGS. 6 to 8) transfers thecounterclockwise motion of the contactor to the pawl to swing the latteraway from the latching element 23. To lock the latch and preventunauthorized opening of the door 21, the transmitting connector 65 isshifted to a position (FIGS. 4, 5 and 13) uncoupling the contactor fromthe pawl so that the contactor, when actuated, simply makes an idlemotion or free-wheels with respect to the pawl and thus is ineffectiveto move the pawl out of engagement with the latching element. Thetransmitting connector is shifted from its coupling position to itsuncoupling position (shown in phantom and full, respectively, in FIG.13) in response to the turning of an inside manually operable member inthe form of a locking lever 66 (FIGS. 4 and 13) from an unlockedposition to a locked position. The locking lever is journaled on a stud67 anchored to the base plate 32 and paralleling the shaft 70, andincludes an arm 69 disposed side-by-side with the pawl 44 and thecontactor 50. To turn the locking lever 66 between its locked andunlocked positions shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, respectively, a garnishbutton 70 (FIG. 1) or other suitable member accessible from the insideof the door is attached to the locking lever by a vertical link 71. Upand down movement of the garnish button turns the locking lever back andforth between the unlocked and locked positions. In addition, the latchmay be unlocked from the outside of the vehicle by a key 73 (FIG. I)which, upon being inserted into a key cylinder 74 and turned, operatesto move the locking lever to the unlocking position in a manner to bedescribed subsequently. A toggle spring 75 (FIG. 6) anchored between thelocking lever 66 and the base plate 32 snaps back and forth overcenteras the locking lever is turned between its positions and serves to urgethe lever toward and hold the lever yieldably in each of its positions.

As mentioned above, the force transmitting connector 65 moves with thecontactor 50 when the latter is actuated and serves to release the pawl44 from the latching element 23. In addition, the transmitting connectoris moved between its coupling and uncoupling positions as the lockinglever 66 is shifted between its unlocked and locked positions.Advantageously, the force transmitting connector 65 simply floats inslots 76 and 77 (FIGS. 13 to 15) formed in the contactor 50 and thelocking lever 66, respectively, so as to be movable both with andrelative to the contactor and the locking lever, portions of the twoslots registering with one another in all positions of the contactor andthe locking lever. When the contactor 50 is actuated, the upper edge ofthe slot 76 in the contactor shifts the transmitting connector 65 withinthe slot 77 and into engagement with the pawl 44, (see FIG. 7). When thelocking lever 66 is shifted, the edges of the slot 77 move thetransmitting connector to either its coupling or uncoupling position,the connector floating within the slot 76 and relative to the contactorduring such movement. As a result of the slots, the transmittingconnector may bemoved by either the contactor or the locking lever andmay move relative to both the contactorand the locking lever withoutrequiring additional mounting elements for producing and accommodatingthe movements. Accordingly,- the cost, complexity and size of the latchare reduced.

As shown most clearly in FIGS. 12 and 13, the force transmittingconnector 65 herein is simply a small cylindrical pin which is projectedslidably through the slots 76 and 77 in closely spaced relation with theedges of the slots. A washer 79 (FIG. 12) on one end of the connectorpin 65 prevents the latter from slipping endwise out of the slot 76and asimilar washer 80 on the other end of the pin retains the pin in theslot 77. In the unlocked position of the locking lever 66 (shown in FIG.6 and in phantom in FIG. 13) the pin 65 is disposed in its couplingposition in the upper portion of the slot 77 and in the extreme left endof the slot 76 in overlying relation with a lug 81 (FIGS. 6 and 13)formed integrally with and projecting from one side of the pawl 44.Thus, when the contactor 50 is actuated and swung counterclockwise aboutthe shaft 45, the upper edge of the slot 76 engages the pin 65 to shiftthe latter into contact with the upper side of the lug 81 thereby toswing the pawl 44 downwardly away from the latching element 23 (as shownin FIG. 7) to release the latching element from the striker 24. Thus, aslong as the locking lever 66 is in its unlocked position, the pincouples the contactor to the pawl and transmits the motion of thecontactor to the pawl to release the latter when the contactor isactuated. As the pin is shifted by the contactor, it simply floats inthe slot 77 in the locking lever without binding in the slot nordisturbing the position of the locking lever.

When the locking lever 66 is swung clockwise to its locked position(shown in FIG. 4 and in full in FIG. 13) to lock the door 21, the leftedge of the slot 77 engages the connector pin 65 and slides the latterfrom left to right within the slot 76 to its upcoupling positionadjacent the right end of the slot 76 as shown in full in FIG. 13. Inthe uncoupling position, the pin is spaced laterally from the lug 81 onthe pawl 44 and no longer underlies the lug. Accordingly, whenthecontactor S is actuated to swing the upper edge of the slot 76downwardly into engagement with the pin 65, the latter simply movesdownwardly within the slot 77 and passes by the lug 81 (as shown in FIG.and in full in FIG. 14) without engaging the lug to trip the pawl andrelease the latching element 23. The contactor thus makes an idle motionor free-wheels with respect to the pawl and is ineffective to trip thelatch and open the door. The door therefore is locked and, untilunlocked by either the garnish button 70 or the key 73, cannot be openedfrom either the inside or the outside of the vehicle.

As described thus far, the latch 20 is substantially identical to thelatch disclosed in my aforementioned application and is comparable incompactness and simplicity to such latch. Like my previous latch, the

present latch is of the self-cancelling, dual preset type capable ofkeyless locking from the outside of the vehicle if and only if twoseparate operations are performed in proper sequence to preset the latchprior to closing of the door 21. That is, the locking action of thelatch is cancelled and the latch is restored automatically to anunlocked condin'on as the door is closed if only one preset operationhas been performed. The chances of accidentally and unintentionallylocking the door thus are reduced. If, however, both preset operationsare performed before closing the door, the latch will be in a lockedcondition after the door has been closed, thus permitting keylesslocking. As in the case of my previous latch, the present latch is ofthe impulse" type. That is, the first preset operation of such a latchis performed in normal fashion by shifting the locking lever 66 to alocked position by depressing the inside garnish button 70 while thedoor 21 is open. The second preset operation then is performed simply bymomentarily actuating or impulsing the outside release lever 51 (orother outside release member) by first lifting and then releasing thelever 51 while the door is open. As a result of the irnpulsing, there isno need of manually holding the outside release in an actuated conditionas the door is swung closed. Accordingly, both preset operations may befully performed while the door is open and then the door may be closedand locked simply be swinging the door shut in a normal fashion.

In accordance with the primary aspect of the invention, the basicsimplicity and compactness of my previous impulse latch are maintainedin the present impulse latch 20 and yet the present latch is constructedso that, during closing of the door 21 after the latch has beenimpulsed, the locking lever 66 (and thus the garnish button 70) simplyremains stationary and does not shift from a locked position to anunlocked position and then back to a locked position during suchclosing. The garnish button 70 thus does not abnormally shift up anddown as the door is closed, the locking lever experiences less wear, andthe parts of the latch operate in a smoother and less jerky manner toreduce hangups and jamming.

The foregoing ends are achieved in part by providing improved means forcanceling the locking action of the latch 20, that is, for restoring thelatch to an unlocked condition if the door 21 is closed after'only asingle preset operation has been performed on the latch. Herein, thesemeans comprise a cancelling lever 83 (FIG. 4) which is mounted on thebase plate 32 to pivot on a stud 84 and which is connected to thelocking lever 66 by an elongated link 85 extending between the twolevers. When the locking lever is turned clockwise from its unlockedposition (FIG. 8) to its locked position (FIG. 9), the link 85 causesclockwise turning of the cancelling lever 83 about the stud 84 to swingan ear 86 on the cancelling lever into an active position shown in FIG.9. In the active position, the car 86 projects into the path followed bya kick-out lug 87 (FIG. 9) on the side of the latching element 27 as thelatter is turned clockwise from its unlatched position to its latchedposition.

Now, if the garnish button 70 is depressed accidentally when the door 21is open, the ear 86 on the cancelling lever 83 will be turned to itsactive position shown in FIG. 9. As the door 21 is closed and thelatching element 23 turned to its latched position, the kick-out lug 87engages the ear 86 to turn the cancelling lever 83 counterclockwiseabout the stud 84 and, through the link 85, to turn the locking lever 66counterclockwise from its locked position (FIG. 9) to its unlockedposition (FIG. 4). Accordingly, the cancelling lever automaticallyunlocks the latch when the door is closed with only a single presetoperation first having been effected by depressing the garnish buttonwhile the door was open.

The slots 76 and 77 are shaped in a novel manner not only to enablekeyless locking of the door 21 by performing two preset operations onthe latch but also to enable the locking lever 66 to remain in astationary position as the door is closed after the latch has beenimpulsed. As shown most clearly in FIGS. 13 to 15, the slot 76 in thecontactor 50 is straight and elongated and extends generally lengthwiseof the contactor. At its right end portion, the elongated slot 76 isformed with an upwardly opening U-shaped pocket 89. The slot 77 in thelocking lever 66 is generally arcuate and is shaped to allow theconnector pin 65 to move downwardly and upwardly when the contactor 50is pivoted about the shaft 45.

When the locking lever 66 is in its unlocked position (as shown inphantom in FIG. 13) and the pin 65 is in its coupling position overlyingthe lug 81 on the pawl 44, the pin engages the left end of the elongatedslot 76 and prevents the locking lever from turning counterclockwisepast its unlocked position under the biasing force of the overcentertoggle spring 75. When the locking lever 66 is turned to its lockedposition (as shown in full in FIG. 13), the pin 65 bears against theright end of the elongated slot 76 and prevents the locking lever fromturning clockwise beyond its locked position. When the locking lever isin its locked position, the pin 65 is captivated within the straightportion of the elongated slot 76 and is prevented from droppingdownwardly into the pocket 89 by a projecting edge portion 90 formedintermediate the ends of the curved slot 77 and by an opposingprojecting edge portion 91 formed at the junction of the right hand edgeof the pocket 89 and the right end of the straight portion of theelongated slot 76. The edge portion 90 also presses the pin against theright end of the elongated slot when the locking lever is in its lockedposition and prevents the edges of the curved slot from sliding past thepin and allowing the locking lever to turn clockwise past its lockedposition. I

To lock the latch 20 without the use of the key 73, the locking lever 66first is turned to its locked position, by depressing the garnish button70 while the door 21 is open, thereby to shift the pin 65 to itsuncoupling position in the right end portion of the elongated slot 76 asshown in full in FIG. 13. The latch then is impulsed by lifting upwardlyon the outside release lever 51 to swing the contactor 50counterclockwise or downwardly to the position shown in full in FIG. 14.As the contactor is swung downwardly, the upper edge of the elongatedslot 76 engages the pin 65 and slides the latter downwardly within thecurved slot 77, the projecting edge 91 moving away from the edge 90during swinging of the contactor so as to allow such movement of thepin. As soon as the pin 65 is slid downwardly past the projecting edge90, the locking lever 66 is freed to turn clockwise beyond its lockedposition under the urging of the toggle spring 75. Accordingly, thelocking lever turns clockwise from the locked position show in phantomin FIG. 14 to an impulsed position shown in full, the curved slot 77moving along the pin during such swinging until the left or lower end ofthe slot engages the pin to stop further movement of the locking lever.

The motion undertaken by the locking lever 66 in swinging from thelocked position to the impulsed position is translated through the linkto the cancelling lever 83 to turn the latter just slightly in aclockwise direction from the active position shown in FIG. 9 to aninactive position shown in FIG. 10. In the inactive position of thecancelling lever, the ear 86 is disposed outside af the path followed bythe kick-out lug 87. Accordingly, when the door 21 is subsequentlyclosed and the latching element 23 turned to its latched position, thekick-out lug 87 simply moves past the ear 86 without engaging the latterand disturbing the position of the locking lever 66. Thus, the,pin 65 iskept in its uncoupling position so that the latch 20, upon closure ofthe door, remains in a locked condition to prevent unauthorized openingof the door.

The pocket 89 of the elongated slot 76 is used to ad vantage to preventthe pin 65 from returning the locking lever 66 counterclockwise from itsimpulsed position back to its locked position when the outside lever 51is manually released to allow the contactor 50 to swing clockwise backto its normal position (shown in full in FIG. 15). That is, the pocketregisters and alines with the pin in the impulsed position of thelocking lever (see FIG. 14) when the pin is in engagement with the leftend of the curved slot 77. Thus, the edges of the pocket simply slideupwardly past the pin as the contactor is swung clockwise to its normalposition, the pin ultimately resting in the bottom of the pocket asshown in FIGS. 10 and 15 when the contactor reaches its full normalposition. As a result, the pin 65 does not return upwardly with thecontactor 50 and does not bear against the upper edge of the curved slot77 to cause the locking lever 66 to turn from its impulsed position toits locked position. Accordingly, the locking lever remains in itsimpulsed position to keep the cancelling lever 83 in its inactiveposition so as to enable the door 21 to be closed and locked withoutneed of keeping the outside lever 51 lifted upwardly and the contactor50 in its operated position during such closing. Instead, the outsidelever need only be momentarily lifted and then released to impulse thelatch before closing of the door. If desired, the latch may be impulsedand the contactor swung to its operated position by actuating the insideremote lever 57 instead of the outside lever 51 when the door is opened.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionbrings to the art a new and improved free wheeling, dual preset latch 20of the impulse type in which the locking lever 66 simply remainsstationary as the door 21 is closed after the latch has been impulsed.Unlike the connector pin of my previous latch, the pin 65 of the presentlatch floats to positions within the slots 76 and 77 determined solelyby the shape of the slots themselves, and never need be physicallyblocked by any other part of the latch. The tolerances to which theslots and pin are manufactured thus are less critical than in myprevious latch, less wear occurs, and hang ups and jamming are reduced.

According to another aspect of the invention, the contactor 50 ispositioned below the latching element 23 to increase the verticalspacing between the contactor and the outside release lever 51. Thus,when the latch 20 need be installed in the extreme upper portion of thedoor 21, as is the case when the vertical space within the door islimited as a result of the door being formed with a curved member 93(FIG. 1) defining a wheel well, greater vertical spacing is establishedbetween the contactor and the release lever to facilitate connectingthese elements in an operative manner.

More specifically and as shown most clearly in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shaft45 which mounts the contactor 50 is spaced well below the pin 29supporting the latching element 23. As a result, the contactor islocated below instead of above the latching element to increase thevertical spacing between the contactor and the crank 54 connected to theoutside release lever 51 which is positioned directly alongside thelatch. As a result of the greater vertical spacing between the crank andthe contactor, the link 55 can be lengthened and inclined at a lesserangle so as to reduce binding in the pivotal connections at the ends ofthe link. In addition, the length and inclination of the link 55 enablethe motion of the outside release lever 51 to be sufficiently amplifiedso as to be effective to swing the contactor through its full operatingrange. Although the contactor 50 is positioned at about the sameelevation as the inside remote lever 57, the two are spaced from oneanother considerable distance lengthwise of the door and the vehicle asto enable the use of a link 60 which is a sufficiently long to swing thecontactor to its operated position in response to actuation of theremote lever.

The locking lever 66 also in position well below the latching element 23as shown in FIG. 1 and the link 71 between the locking lever and thegarnish button 70 can be made longer than otherwise would be the case ifthe locking lever were disposed above the latching element. Accordingly,the link may be relatively straight and free of sharp bends. Thepositioning of the locking lever also facilitates connecting such leverto the key cylinder 74. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the key cylinderincludes a crank 94 which turns about the axis of the cylinder when thekey 73 is turned. The crank 94 is connected to the cancelling lever 83by a link 95 so that the cancelling lever is turned counterclockwisewhen the key is turned in a direction to unlock the latch. Such turningof the cancelling lever is transmitted to the locking lever 66 throughthe link 85 and thus the locking lever is swung to its unlocked positionwhen the key is turned.

1 claim as my Invention:

1. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base tomove between latched and unlatched positions, a pawl operable to holdsaid latching element in said latched position and releasable to freethe latching eleinent for movement to said unlatched position, amanually operable actuator formed with an elongated slot and mounted onsaid base for movement from a normal position to an operated positionwhen manually actuated, a locking lever disposed side-byside with saidactuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked andlocked positions,

said locking lever also being formed with a slot with portions of thetwo slots registering with one another in all positions of said actuatorand said locking lever, a connector extending through the two slots andslidable within said elongated slot between positions coupling anduncoupling said actuator with said pawl in response to movement of saidlocking lever between said unlocked and locked positions, saidconnector, when said locking lever is in said unlocked position, slidingwithin said slot in said locking lever in response to movement of saidactuator to said operated position and engaging the pawl to release thelatter from said latching element, said connector, when said lockinglever is in said locked position, sliding within said slot in saidlocking lever and making an idle movement with respect to said pawl uponmovement of said actuator to said operated position whereby the actuatorfree-wheels without releasing the pawl from the latching element, andcan celling means operable to move said locking lever to said unlockedposition when said latching element is moved from said unlatchedposition to said latched position with said locking lever disposed insaid locked position, the improvement in said latch comprising, meansacting on said locking lever and serving to move the latter to animpulsed position in response to manual movement of said actuator fromsaid normal position to said operated position but only when saidlocking lever first has been moved to said locked position, meanspreventing return of said locking lever from said impulsed position tosaid locked position when said actuator is thereafter manually releasedfor return from said operated position to said normal position, and saidcancelling means being disabled with respect to said locking lever whenthe latter is in said impulsed position and incapable of moving andreturning said locking lever toward said unlocked position duringmovement of said latching element from said unlatched position to saidlatched position.

2. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base tomove between latched and unlatched positions, a pawl operable to holdsaid latching element in said latched position and releasable to freethe latching element for movement to said unlatched position, a manuallyoperable actuator formed with an elongated slot and mounted on said basefor movement from a normal position to an operated position whenmanually actuated, a locking lever disposed side-byside with saidactuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked andlocked positions, said locking lever also being formed with a slot withportions of the two slots registering with one another in all positionsof said actuator and said locking lever, a connector extending throughthe two slots and slidable within said elongated slot between positionscoupling and uncoupling said actuator with said pawl in response tomovement of said locking lever between said unlocked and lockedpositions, said connector, when in said coupling position, slidingwithin said slot in said locking lever in response to movement of saidactuator to said operated position and engaging the pawl to release thelatter from said latching element, said connector, when in saiduncoupling position, sliding within said slot in said locking lever andmaking an idle movement with respect to said pawl upon movement of saidactuator to said operated position whereby the actuator free-wheelswithout releasing the pawl from the latching element, and cancellingmeans normally operable to move said locking lever to said unlockedposition and said connector to said coupling position when said latchingelement is moved from said unlatched position to said latched positionwith said locking lever disposed in said locked position, theimprovement in said latch comprising, biasing means acting on saidlocking lever and serving to move the latter to an impulsed position inresponse to manual movement of said actuator from said normal positionto said operated position but only when said locking lever first hasbeen moved to said locked position, means preventing return of saidlocking lever from said impulsed position to said locked position whensaid actuator is thereafter manually released for return from saidoperated position to said normal position, said locking lever, when insaid impulsed position, being located to keep said connector in saiduncoupling position and to render said cancelling means ineffective tomove the locking lever when said latching element is moved from saidunlatched position to said latched position.

3. A latch as defined in claim 2 in which said slot in said lockinglever is curved and is formed intermediate its ends with an inwardlyprojecting edge portion which engages said connector when said lockinglever is in said locked position and said actuator is in said normalposition and prevents movement of said locking lever from said lockedposition to said impulsed position under the influence of said biasingmeans, said connector being moved within said curved slot and past saidedge portion when said actuator is moved to said operated positionthereby to allow said curved slot to ride along said connector and freesaid locking lever for movement to said impulsed position under theinfluence of said biasing means.

4. A latch as defined in claim 3 in which said elongated slot includesan elongated portion and also includes a pocket portion located near oneend of said elongated portion and opening into the latter portion, saidpocket portion being positioned to register with said connector whensaid actuator is in said operated position and said locking lever insaid impulsed position whereby said connector may enter into said pocketportion when said actuator is returned to said normal position and maymove relative to said actuator during such return so as to leave saidlocking lever in said impulsed position.

5. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base tomove between latched and unlatched positions, a pawl operable to holdsaid latching element in said latched position and releasable to freethe latching element for movement to said unlatched position, a manuallyoperable actuator formed with an elongated slot and mounted on said basefor movement from a normal position to an operated position whenmanually actuated, said actuator being biased to return toward saidnormal position when manually released, a locking lever disposedside-by-side with said actuator and mounted on said base for movementbetween unlocked and locked positions, said locking lever also beingformed with a slot with portions of the two slots registering with oneanother in all positions of said actuator and said locking lever, aconnector extending through the two slots and slidable within saidelongated slot between positions coupling and uncoupling said actuatorwith said pawl in response to movement of said locking lever betweensaid unlocked and locked positions, said connector, when said lockinglever is in said unlocked position, sliding within said slot in saidlocking lever in response to movement of said actuator to said operatedposition and engaging the pawl to release the latter from said latchingelement, said connector, when said locking lever is in said lockedposition, sliding within said slot in said locking lever and making anidle movement with respect to said pawl upon movement of said actuatorto said operated position whereby the actuator free-wheels withoutreleasing the pawl from the latching element, the improvement in saidlatch comprising, a cancelling member connected to said locking leverand movable to an ac tive position when said locking lever is moved tosaid locked position, kick-out means operable, when said cancellingmember is in said active position and as said latching element is turnedfrom said unlatched position to said latched position, to engage andmove said cancelling member to cause the latter to return said lockinglever to said unlocked position, means biasing said locking lever toturn beyond said locked position to an impulsed position when saidactuator is manually moved from said normal position to said operatedposition after said locking lever has been first moved to said lockedposition, said slot in said locking lever being shaped to free saidlocking lever for movement to said impulsed position under the influenceof said biasing means and to allow said connector to move with saidactuator when the latter is moved to said operated position, saidlocking lever being connected to said cancelling member to move thelatter to an inactive position with respect to said kick-out means as anincident to movement of said locking lever to said impulsed positionwhereby the kick-out means fails to engage said cancelling member andturn said locking lever to said unlocked position when said latchingelement is turned to said latched position with said locking leverdisposed in said impulsed position, and said slot in said actuator beingshaped to allow said connector to move relative to said actuator whenthe latter is returned from said operated position to said normalposition thereby to prevent the connector from shifting the lockinglever out of said impulsed position as an incident to the return of theactuator.

6. A latch as defined in claim 5 in which said slot in said lockinglever is curved and is formed intermediate its ends with an inwardlyprojecting edge portion which engages said connector when said lockinglever is in said locked position and said actuator is in said normalposition and prevents movement of said locking lever from said lockedposition to said impulsed position under the influence of said biasingmeans, said connector being moved within said curved slot and past saidedge portion when said actuator is moved to said operated positionthereby to allow said curved slot to ride along said connector and freesaid locking lever for movement to said impulsed position under theinfluence of said biasing means.

7. A latch as defined in claim 6 in which said elongated slot includesan elongated portion and also includes a pocket portion located near oneend of said elongated portion and opening into the latter portion,

said pocket portion being positioned to register with said connectorwhen said actuator is in said operated position and said locking leverin said irnpulsed position whereby said connector may enter into saidpocket portion when said actuator is returned to said normal positionand may move relative to said actuator during such return so as to leavesaid locking lever in said impulsed position.

8. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base tomove between latched and unlatched positions, latching mechanismselectively operable to hold said latching element in said latchedposition and releasable to free the latching element for movement tosaid unlatched position, a manually operable actuator formed with anelongated slot and mounted on said base for movement between normal andoperated positions, a locking lever disposed side-by-side with saidactuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked andlocked positions, said locking lever also being formed with a slot withportions of the two slots registering with one another in all positionsof said actuator and said locking lever, a connector extending throughthe two slots and slidable within said elongated slot between positionscoupling and uncoupling said actuator with said latching mechanism inresponse to movement of said locking lever between said unlocked andlocked positions, said connector,

when said locking lever is in said unlocked position, sliding within afirst portion of said slot in said locking lever in response to movementof said actuator to said operated position and engaging the latchingmechanism to release the latter from said latching element, saidconnector, when said locking lever is in said locked position, slidingwithin a second portion of said slot in said locking lever and making anidle movement with respect to said latching mechanism upon movement ofsaid actuator to said operated position whereby the actuator free-wheelswithout releasing the latching mechanism from the latching element, andcancelling means normally operable to move said locking lever to saidunlocked position when said latching element is moved from saidunlatched position to said latched position with said locking leverdisposed out of said unlocked position, the improvement in said latchcomprising, means including said elongated slot and said connector fordisabling said cancelling means and preventing said locking lever frommoving toward said unlocked position as said latching element is turnedfrom said unlatched position to said latched position with said lockinglever disposed out of said unlocked position and with said actuatordisposed in said operated position.

1. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base tomove between latched and unlatched positions, a pawl operable to holdsaid latching element in said latched position and releasable to freethe latching element for movement to said unlatched position, a manuallyoperable actuator formed with an elongated slot and mounted on said basefor movement from a normal position to an operated position whenmanually actuated, a locking lever disposed side-by-side with saidactuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked andlocked positions, said locking lever also being formed with a slot withportions of the two slots rEgistering with one another in all positionsof said actuator and said locking lever, a connector extending throughthe two slots and slidable within said elongated slot between positionscoupling and uncoupling said actuator with said pawl in response tomovement of said locking lever between said unlocked and lockedpositions, said connector, when said locking lever is in said unlockedposition, sliding within said slot in said locking lever in response tomovement of said actuator to said operated position and engaging thepawl to release the latter from said latching element, said connector,when said locking lever is in said locked position, sliding within saidslot in said locking lever and making an idle movement with respect tosaid pawl upon movement of said actuator to said operated positionwhereby the actuator free-wheels without releasing the pawl from thelatching element, and cancelling means operable to move said lockinglever to said unlocked position when said latching element is moved fromsaid unlatched position to said latched position with said locking leverdisposed in said locked position, the improvement in said latchcomprising, means acting on said locking lever and serving to move thelatter to an impulsed position in response to manual movement of saidactuator from said normal position to said operated position but onlywhen said locking lever first has been moved to said locked position,means preventing return of said locking lever from said impulsedposition to said locked position when said actuator is thereaftermanually released for return from said operated position to said normalposition, and said cancelling means being disabled with respect to saidlocking lever when the latter is in said impulsed position and incapableof moving and returning said locking lever toward said unlocked positionduring movement of said latching element from said unlatched position tosaid latched position.
 2. A latch having a base, a latching elementmounted on said base to move between latched and unlatched positions, apawl operable to hold said latching element in said latched position andreleasable to free the latching element for movement to said unlatchedposition, a manually operable actuator formed with an elongated slot andmounted on said base for movement from a normal position to an operatedposition when manually actuated, a locking lever disposed side-by-sidewith said actuator and mounted on said base for movement betweenunlocked and locked positions, said locking lever also being formed witha slot with portions of the two slots registering with one another inall positions of said actuator and said locking lever, a connectorextending through the two slots and slidable within said elongated slotbetween positions coupling and uncoupling said actuator with said pawlin response to movement of said locking lever between said unlocked andlocked positions, said connector, when in said coupling position,sliding within said slot in said locking lever in response to movementof said actuator to said operated position and engaging the pawl torelease the latter from said latching element, said connector, when insaid uncoupling position, sliding within said slot in said locking leverand making an idle movement with respect to said pawl upon movement ofsaid actuator to said operated position whereby the actuator free-wheelswithout releasing the pawl from the latching element, and cancellingmeans normally operable to move said locking lever to said unlockedposition and said connector to said coupling position when said latchingelement is moved from said unlatched position to said latched positionwith said locking lever disposed in said locked position, theimprovement in said latch comprising, biasing means acting on saidlocking lever and serving to move the latter to an impulsed position inresponse to manual movement of said actuator from said normal positionto said operated position but only when said locking lever first hasbeen Moved to said locked position, means preventing return of saidlocking lever from said impulsed position to said locked position whensaid actuator is thereafter manually released for return from saidoperated position to said normal position, said locking lever, when insaid impulsed position, being located to keep said connector in saiduncoupling position and to render said cancelling means ineffective tomove the locking lever when said latching element is moved from saidunlatched position to said latched position.
 3. A latch as defined inclaim 2 in which said slot in said locking lever is curved and is formedintermediate its ends with an inwardly projecting edge portion whichengages said connector when said locking lever is in said lockedposition and said actuator is in said normal position and preventsmovement of said locking lever from said locked position to saidimpulsed position under the influence of said biasing means, saidconnector being moved within said curved slot and past said edge portionwhen said actuator is moved to said operated position thereby to allowsaid curved slot to ride along said connector and free said lockinglever for movement to said impulsed position under the influence of saidbiasing means.
 4. A latch as defined in claim 3 in which said elongatedslot includes an elongated portion and also includes a pocket portionlocated near one end of said elongated portion and opening into thelatter portion, said pocket portion being positioned to register withsaid connector when said actuator is in said operated position and saidlocking lever in said impulsed position whereby said connector may enterinto said pocket portion when said actuator is returned to said normalposition and may move relative to said actuator during such return so asto leave said locking lever in said impulsed position.
 5. A latch havinga base, a latching element mounted on said base to move between latchedand unlatched positions, a pawl operable to hold said latching elementin said latched position and releasable to free the latching element formovement to said unlatched position, a manually operable actuator formedwith an elongated slot and mounted on said base for movement from anormal position to an operated position when manually actuated, saidactuator being biased to return toward said normal position whenmanually released, a locking lever disposed side-by-side with saidactuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked andlocked positions, said locking lever also being formed with a slot withportions of the two slots registering with one another in all positionsof said actuator and said locking lever, a connector extending throughthe two slots and slidable within said elongated slot between positionscoupling and uncoupling said actuator with said pawl in response tomovement of said locking lever between said unlocked and lockedpositions, said connector, when said locking lever is in said unlockedposition, sliding within said slot in said locking lever in response tomovement of said actuator to said operated position and engaging thepawl to release the latter from said latching element, said connector,when said locking lever is in said locked position, sliding within saidslot in said locking lever and making an idle movement with respect tosaid pawl upon movement of said actuator to said operated positionwhereby the actuator free-wheels without releasing the pawl from thelatching element, the improvement in said latch comprising, a cancellingmember connected to said locking lever and movable to an active positionwhen said locking lever is moved to said locked position, kick-out meansoperable, when said cancelling member is in said active position and assaid latching element is turned from said unlatched position to saidlatched position, to engage and move said cancelling member to cause thelatter to return said locking lever to said unlocked position, meansbiasing said locking lever to turn beyonD said locked position to animpulsed position when said actuator is manually moved from said normalposition to said operated position after said locking lever has beenfirst moved to said locked position, said slot in said locking leverbeing shaped to free said locking lever for movement to said impulsedposition under the influence of said biasing means and to allow saidconnector to move with said actuator when the latter is moved to saidoperated position, said locking lever being connected to said cancellingmember to move the latter to an inactive position with respect to saidkick-out means as an incident to movement of said locking lever to saidimpulsed position whereby the kick-out means fails to engage saidcancelling member and turn said locking lever to said unlocked positionwhen said latching element is turned to said latched position with saidlocking lever disposed in said impulsed position, and said slot in saidactuator being shaped to allow said connector to move relative to saidactuator when the latter is returned from said operated position to saidnormal position thereby to prevent the connector from shifting thelocking lever out of said impulsed position as an incident to the returnof the actuator.
 6. A latch as defined in claim 5 in which said slot insaid locking lever is curved and is formed intermediate its ends with aninwardly projecting edge portion which engages said connector when saidlocking lever is in said locked position and said actuator is in saidnormal position and prevents movement of said locking lever from saidlocked position to said impulsed position under the influence of saidbiasing means, said connector being moved within said curved slot andpast said edge portion when said actuator is moved to said operatedposition thereby to allow said curved slot to ride along said connectorand free said locking lever for movement to said impulsed position underthe influence of said biasing means.
 7. A latch as defined in claim 6 inwhich said elongated slot includes an elongated portion and alsoincludes a pocket portion located near one end of said elongated portionand opening into the latter portion, said pocket portion beingpositioned to register with said connector when said actuator is in saidoperated position and said locking lever in said impulsed positionwhereby said connector may enter into said pocket portion when saidactuator is returned to said normal position and may move relative tosaid actuator during such return so as to leave said locking lever insaid impulsed position.
 8. A latch having a base, a latching elementmounted on said base to move between latched and unlatched positions,latching mechanism selectively operable to hold said latching element insaid latched position and releasable to free the latching element formovement to said unlatched position, a manually operable actuator formedwith an elongated slot and mounted on said base for movement betweennormal and operated positions, a locking lever disposed side-by-sidewith said actuator and mounted on said base for movement betweenunlocked and locked positions, said locking lever also being formed witha slot with portions of the two slots registering with one another inall positions of said actuator and said locking lever, a connectorextending through the two slots and slidable within said elongated slotbetween positions coupling and uncoupling said actuator with saidlatching mechanism in response to movement of said locking lever betweensaid unlocked and locked positions, said connector, when said lockinglever is in said unlocked position, sliding within a first portion ofsaid slot in said locking lever in response to movement of said actuatorto said operated position and engaging the latching mechanism to releasethe latter from said latching element, said connector, when said lockinglever is in said locked position, sliding within a second portion ofsaid slot in said locking lever and making an idle movement with respecTto said latching mechanism upon movement of said actuator to saidoperated position whereby the actuator free-wheels without releasing thelatching mechanism from the latching element, and cancelling meansnormally operable to move said locking lever to said unlocked positionwhen said latching element is moved from said unlatched position to saidlatched position with said locking lever disposed out of said unlockedposition, the improvement in said latch comprising, means including saidelongated slot and said connector for disabling said cancelling meansand preventing said locking lever from moving toward said unlockedposition as said latching element is turned from said unlatched positionto said latched position with said locking lever disposed out of saidunlocked position and with said actuator disposed in said operatedposition.